What laser safety problems still exist in educational institutions and what is currently being done to alleviate them

The use of lasers by the academic community continues to dramatically escalate. Academia is inundated with a profusion of lasers, each with a diverse function. Traditional departments such as Biology, Chemistry, and Physics have introduced the use of lasers as an essential element of tutelage. Even the more distinctive departments such as Cancer Research, Civil Engineering, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Plasma Fusion, Spectroscopy, and so forth, have incorporated the laser in the composition of their educational mechanism. The literature indicates most ocular accidents happen during alignment procedures, which is an everyday activity for laser educational laboratories. Also, the improper use of laser safety eye wear is a major area of concern for laser safety in educational institutions. More Class II, III, and IV lasers are used in universities, colleges, laser electro-optic technical colleges and high schools than probably any other area: for teaching, research laboratory experiments, and demonstrations. Relatively large numbers of students work in laboratory groups in confined areas, with various lasers of different wavelengths in the same laboratory. Open cavity and beam paths of Class 3b and Class 4 lasers are common in these environments. Many educational institutions do not have laser safety officers or standard operating procedures. This paper will discuss the success that has been achieved in the past five years and what still needs to be done since ANSI published the Z136.5 Standard for Laser Safety in Educational Institutions in January 2000.